Ivan's RV-7

Continuing with the left wingTimer icon4h

October 19, 2025

Continued working on the left wing bottom skin.

Left wing progress.

The only notable moment was the pitot tube mount. First, it wasn't quite easy to put it in because of the pitot and AOA aluminum tubing. Second, after I put it in, smeared with tank sealant and started riveting it, I realized that because of positioning, the bracket cannot be riveted as the edge of the mount interferes with the forward row of the rivets (the one that attaches the leading edge). I had already put four skin rivets, so I had to drill them out.

So, I had to pull it out and grind the edge to provide enough clearance, then put it back. While doing that, I messed up one of the rivets, too. These rivets are close to the mount, so they were not easy to reach with a rivet gun. I replaced the rivet with a NAS1241AD3 rivet, and after a few tries, managed to set it. It still doesn't look quite good, but since the instructions for the mount only required two rivets, and this one rivet is an extra one, I left it as is.

Pitot tube mount.